Rifle breech bolt latch

ABSTRACT

AN IMPROVED LATCH FOR RELEASABLY STOPPING THE REARWARD TRAVEL OF THE BOLT IN RIFLES HAVING SLIDABLE BREECH BOLTS, FOR EXAMPLE OF THE MAUSER TYPE. THE LATCH IS PIVOTABLY MOUNTED ON A HEADED SCREW SECURED IN THE RECEIVER AND INCLUDES A SPRING-PRESSED PLUNGER BEARING ON THE SCREW HEAD, WHICH HOLDS THE LATCH IN ITS BOLT RETAINING POSITION. THE LATCH HAS AN ELONGATED HOLE FOR THE SCREW WHICH NOT ONLY HOLDS THE LATCH ON THE RECEIVER BUT PERMITS PIVOTED MOVEMENT OF THE LATCH TOWARD AND AWAY FROM THE RECEIVER. THE LATCH ALSO HAS A BOLT STOP LUG WHICH EXTENDS THROUGH AN OPENING IN THE RECEIVER TO ENGAGE LUG MEANS   ON THE BOLT AND STOP ITS REARWARD TRAVEL. THE LATCH MAY BE PULLED OUTWARD TO ITS BOLT RELEASING POSITION AND WHEN RELEASED IT SNAP BACK TO ITS LOCKED POSITION BY THE SPRINGPRESSED PLUNGER BEARING ON THE SCREW HEAD.

RIFLE BREECH BOLT LATCH Filed July 22, 1959 FIG. 1

INVENTORS WILLIAM B. RUGER LEROY J. SULLiVAN BY hfwfi/ ATTORNFYS United Smtes Patent Ofice 3,621,598 Patented Nov. 23, 1971 US. Cl. 4216 F 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An improved latch for releasably stopping the rearward travel of the bolt in rifles having slidable breech bolts, for example of the Mauser type. The latch is pivotably mounted on a headed screw secured in the receiver and includes a spring-pressed plunger bearing on the screw head, which holds the latch in its bolt retaining position. The latch has an elongated hole for the screw which not only holds the latch on the receiver but permits pivoted movement of the latch toward and away from the receiver. The latch also has a bolt stop lug which extends through an opening in the receiver to engage lug means on the blot and stop its rearward travel. The latch may be pulled outward to its bolt releasing position and when released it snaps back to its locked position by the springpressed plunger bearing on the screw head.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The bolts for Mauser type rifles employ bolt-stop latches which are secured to and pivoted from an extension on the receiver which contributes considerably to the cost of manufacture of the rifle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The bolt latch of the invention is pivotably secured to one side of the receiver by a headed screw which eliminates the present need for any integral extension of the receiver to effect a pivotal connection. The latch has a bolt stop lug that extends through a lug slot formed in the side of the receiver for engaging the lug means of the bolt. The latch also has an elongated screw-receiving recess formed in one end thereof adapted to receive the head of the screw, the recess being provided with an arcuate shoulder of smaller diameter than the head of the screw which shoulder secures the latch to the receiver but permits it to have restricted pivotal movement. The latch has a longitudinal bore for a spring pressed plunger which bears on the side of the screw head so that when the latch is pivoted outward the plunger is depressed against its spring. The force of the plunger against the head of the screw is sufiiciently offset from the pivot point formed by the screw recess and screw so that the latch is normally urged into its engaged position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawing:

FIG. 1 is a plan view, partly broken away, of the receiver portion of a Mauser type rifle embodying the breech bolt latch of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the rearward portion of FIG. 1, with parts in section, showing the bolt in its rearward position and the bolt latch in the locked position;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing the bolt latch in the bolt-releasing position;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view along the line 44 of FIG. 2, and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the latch from the inside of the receiver.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The present invention is applicable to various rifles having slidable breech bolts, and most advantageously to those having locking lugs and a bolt handle for manual operation. FIG. 1 illustrates the reeciver portion of a bolt action rifle of the Mauser type comprising the receiver 1, barrel 2, stock 3 and breech bolt 4. The bolt 4 has a locking lug means 5, an extractor 6, a bolt handle 7 and a firing pin striker 8.

The latch 10 is shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 in its closed or bolt limiting position and in FIG. 3 in its bolt releasing position. The latch is formed with an elongated screw recess 11 adapted to receive the head 12 of the screw 13 that is threaded into the receiver. The rearward end of the recess 11 is provided with an arcuate shoulder 14 of slightly smaller diameter than the diameter of the head 12 of the screw 13 so that the latch 10 is secured to the receiver 1 thereby. This arrangement enables the latch 10 to have the limited pivoted movement shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 as hereafter explained. The latch 10 has a bolt stop lug 15 projecting through a lug slot 16 formed in the receiver, the bolt stop lug 15 being adapted to engage the lug means 5 of the bolt 4 and to stop its rearward movement when the latch is in the position shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4. The latch has a longitudinal bore 17 in which is mounted a plunger 18 pressed into contact with the head 12 by the spring 19 that is held in the bore by the cross pin 20.

The headed screw 13 is provided with a spacer sleeve or neck 22 which spaces the head 12 of the screw a predetermined distance from the receiver 1. The head 12 comprises a collar 23 larger in diameter than the neck 22 and a slotted top flange 24 which is larger in diameter than the collar 23. The top flange 24 and the collar 23 of the screw head 12 are received in the recess 11, the under surface of the collar 23 contacting the outwardly facing surface of the shoulder '14 when the latch is in the position shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. The neck 22 of the screw 13 is received in the arcuate opening 25 defined by the recessed shoulder 14, the latch 10 being free to move rearwardly against the pressure of spring 19 when the latch 10 is pivoted as shown in FIG. 3.

The plunger 18 has a chamfered end which bears against the head 12 of the screw 13 when the latch 10 is in the bolt holding position of FIG. 2. By reason of the pressure exerted by the spring 19 and the plunger 18 on the top flange 24, the latch 10 is normally pressed firmly against the receiver. The forward end of the latch 10 has a finger engaging ear 30 for pulling the latch outwardly to withdraw the bolt stop lug 15 from the slot 16 as shown in FIG. 3, thereby releasing the bolt 4 and enabling it to be removed from the receiver.

As shown best in FIGS. 3 and 5, the rearward end of the latch 10 is formed with an inwardly projecting pivot element 31 which pivotally contacts the outer surface of the receiver 1 adjacent the screw 13, the rearward end of the pivot element having an outwardly beveled surface 32 as shown in the drawing. When the latch 10 is in its bolt holding position shown in FIG. 2, the pivot element 31 is held in nominal contact with the outside surface of the receiver 1 by the screw 13. When the forward end of the latch 10 is pulled outwardly to withdraw the bolt stop lug 15 from the slot 16 as shown in FIG. 3, the rearward end of the latch pivots about the pivot element 31 until the beveled surface 32 of the element 31 comes into contact with the outside surface of the receiver 1. Further outward pivotal movement of the latch 10 is prevented by the co-action of the surface 32 which bears against the receiver 1 and the shoulder 14 which bears against the undersurface of the head 12 of the screw 13.

Moreover, when the latch 10 is lifted as described, the bottom edge of the arcuate opening 25 bears against the neck 22 of the screw 13 thereby causing the latch to move rearwardly relative to the head 12 of the screw. As a result, the plunger 18 is caused to be moved forwardly in the bore 17 against the presure of the spring 19. As the force exerted by the spring-loaded plunger 18 against the screw head 12 is slightly offset with respect to the point of contact of the bottom edge of the opening 25 with the neck 22, this spring pressure causes the latch 10 to snap back into the bolt holding position shown in FIG. 4 when the finger engaging ear 30 is released.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention the relative positions of the bolt stop lug 15 in the slot 16 and the neck 22 of the screw 13 in the arcuate opening 25 permits some slight longitudinal movement of the latch 10 relative to the reciever. Thus, when the bolt 4 is in its forward or closed position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the pressure of the spring-loaded plunger 18 against the head 12 of the screw 13 moves the latch 10 to its forwardmost position. In this position the rearward surface of the arcuate opening 25 bears firmly against the neck 22 of the screw 13 and there is a slight gap between the rearward surface 40 of the slot 16 and the corresponding surface of the lug 15, as shown in FIG. 4. When the bolt 4 is in its rearward or open position the lug means bears against the bolt stop lug 15, thereby causing the latch to be moved to its rearwardmost position as shown in FIG. 2. In this position the rearward surface of the lug bears firmly against the rearward surface 40 of the slot 16. This slight rearward movement of the latch 10 against the pressure of the spring 19 absorbs some of the shock caused when the lug means 5 contacts the bolt stop lug 15 when the bolt 4 is pulled rearwardly, as for example, when ejecting a spent cartridge case.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination with a rifle having a receiver and a breech bolt slidably mounted therein of a breech bolt latch pivotally mounted on a headed screw secured to said receiver for releasably retaining said bolt in said receiver, said latch having a bolt stop lug extending inwardly through a lug slot formed in the receiver to engage lug means on said bolt and further having an elongated screw receiving recess formed in one end thereof adapted to receive the head of said screw, said screw recess being provided with an arcuate shoulder of smaller diameter than the head of said screw whereby the latch is secured to the receiver by said headed screw, said latch being provided with an inwardly projecting pivot element pivotally contacing the outside of the receiver adjacent said screw, and a spring pressed plunger mounted in a longitudinal bore formed in said latch, one end of said plunger bearing against the head of said screw where by the latch is normally pressed inwardly against said receiver.

2. The combination according to claim 1 in which the headed screw comprises a head portion and a neck portion, and in which the arcuate shoulder of the screw receiving recess of the latch defines an arcuate opening the inner surface of which contacts the neck of said screw.

3. The combination according to claim 1 in which the headed screw comprises a neck portion, a collar portion of larger diameter than the neck portion and a top flange portion of larger diameter than the collar portion, and in which the spring pressed plunger rides on the top flange of said screw.

4. The combination according to claim 1 in which the end of the spring pressed plunger in contact with the headed screw is chamfered.

5. The combination according to claim 1 in which the rearward portion of the inwardly projecting pivot element is formed with an outwardly beveled surface adapted to contact the outside surface of the receiver when the forward end of the pivotally mounted latch is pulled outwardly away from the receiver.

6. The combination according to claim 1 in which the end of the latch opposite the screw recess is provided with a finger engaging ear.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,489,989 4/1924 Diehm 4216 2,109,578 3/1938 Reising 42l6(.5) 3,013,355 12/1961 Weatherby 4216 BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner C. T. JORDAN, Assistant Examiner H050 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTII ICA IE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,621 ,598 Dated November 23, 1971 Inventor) William B. Ruger G Leroy J. Sullivan It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, lines 4 G 5 "Ruger, Sturm G Co. Inc."

should read Sturm, Ruger 5 Co. Inc.

Signed and sealed this 17th day of April 1973.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

